Jefferson City, Missouri– while The US Senate remains deadlocked Because of President Donald Trump’s call for strict citizenship voting requirements, Republicans in some states are moving forward with their own measures that would require documentary proof of citizenship to join or remain on the voter rolls.
Proof of citizenship legislation received final approval this week in South Dakota and Utah, has already been approved by one chamber in Florida and received a committee hearing in Missouri. In Michigan, supporters of voter citizenship documents submitted 750,000 petition signatures this week in an attempt to get a constitutional amendment on the November ballot.
Federal law already Non-citizens are prohibited from voting In US elections, violators are subject to fines, imprisonment, and possible deportation.
When people register to vote, they are affirming, under penalty of perjury, that they are American citizens. But Trump asserts that this is not enough. Potential voters are required to provide proof of their citizenship.
Federalism Protecting American Voter Eligibility Actor the Save America Act, would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote. This can be met with things like a US passport, a citizen’s certificate of naturalization, or a combination of a birth certificate and a government-issued photo ID.
The federal bill also requires a photo ID to cast a ballot, which some states already require. The Republican-led US House of Representatives He approved the legislation last month on a mostly party-line vote, but stalled in the Senate under the threat of a filibuster from Democrats.
Legislation passed in South Dakota and Utah would create a two-tier voting system. People who present documents of their citizenship can vote in all elections. Those who cannot vote can only vote in federal elections for President, the US Senate, and the US House of Representatives.
The split voting system is modeled after Arizona, where tens of thousands of voters who did not provide proof of citizenship could only cast ballots in federal elections. Arizona has yet to implement its system The US Supreme Court ruled in 2013 That the state cannot request citizenship documents for federal elections.
Invoices In South Dakota The Utah law will take effect upon the governor’s signature, meaning it could be available to newly registered voters before the November election.
Utah bill It also directs election officials to use an online service from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to verify the citizenship status of current voters. Notifications will be sent to people flagged requiring proof of citizenship to remain eligible to vote in all elections.
Neither the Michigan initiative nor the legislation passed by the Florida House would require people to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote. Instead, these actions will create behind-the-scenes review that could lead to some people demanding citizenship documents.
Under Michigan’s measure, the Secretary of State will review driver’s license records, jury records, and federal Homeland Security and Social Security data to determine whether registered voters are citizens. Flagged people will be removed from voter rolls if they cannot provide proof of citizenship.
Florida legislation requires election officials to verify the citizenship of all registered voters using the state’s driver’s license database. Anyone whose nationality cannot be verified will be asked to provide documentary evidence.
Trump and some of his colleagues Republicans have raised the alarm For several years about non-citizen voting in US elections. Although evidence of people doing this is scarce, there are some cases.
In 2024, A.J A student from China has been charged Perjury and attempted illegal voting after registering to vote by showing a University of Michigan student ID card and signing a document confirming that he or she is a U.S. citizen. He later called a local clerk’s office asking to have his ballot back, and eventually… Flee the country.
The issue provided part of the impetus for Michigan’s ballot initiative, said Paul Jacob, president of Americans for Citizens’ Vote, which supports the measure.
“We want a system we can trust,” Jacob said. “The way to avoid big problems in elections is to fix the little problems when they get up and present themselves.”
Constitutional amendments limiting voting to “citizens only” received widespread support when they were put in place On state ballots. But voting rights advocates say requesting documentary proof can be complicated.
During a recent debate in the Florida House of Representatives, Democratic state Rep. Ashley Gantt recounted how her aunt gave birth in a home in South Carolina at a time when some hospitals were not accepting black patients. As a result, she does not have a birth certificate and has difficulty proving her citizenship, Gant said.
The citizenship law “would prevent many thousands — if not more — of American citizens from voting in Florida,” said Michelle Kanter Cohen, policy director and senior counsel at the nonprofit Center for Fair Elections. “It requires documents that many eligible citizens do not have or do not have access to.”
Nationwide, about 21 million people — 9% of voting-age citizens — lack or cannot easily obtain documentary proof of citizenship, according to 2024 report By the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement at the University of Maryland.
Legal challenges are common when states pass proof of citizenship requirements for voters.
after KS adopted After the Proof of Citizenship Act 15 years ago, more than 31,000 American citizens ended up being prevented from registering to vote. Federal courts have declared the Kansas law an unconstitutional burden on voting rights, and it has not been enforced since 2018.
Two years ago, New Hampshire and Louisiana passed citizenship laws, prompting lawsuits. The New Hampshire law went to trial last month and is awaiting sentencing. Louisiana’s election commissioner acknowledged in a lawsuit filed in December that the requirement had not been implemented.
A nonprofit group has also filed a legal challenge to Wyoming’s citizenship proof law passed last year. But a federal court dismissed that case while ruling that the group lacked standing to sue.